There (after a long wait), the San Marcos statue arrived with suitable accompaniment. When he did, all hell broke loose for the reunion of the two saints – the “tope”. An enormous, ground shaking, ear splitting fire, or emergency whistle sounded for what seemed like about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, lots of horsemen on very fine horses emerged from side streets and joined the procession. The horses began to dance and do very fancy steps, impressing us a great deal. These show horses are in sharp contrast to the “cart” horses we see around town. The show horses are beautifully groomed, with fancy tails and tack. The procession, featuring the two saints headed down the big road toward Dolores, where the San Sebastian image from Diriamba was to meet them for another “tope”.

 

View the embedded image gallery online at:
https://donporter.net/index.php/cent-amer/new-nicaragua-2008/san-sebastian/169-first-tope?tmpl=component&print=1&page=#sigProIdc991169210